Just as the students were beginning to grow impatient, footsteps came tapping down the corridor outside.
Everyone immediately fell silent and focused on the doorway, wondering which teacher would lead them.
Under their expectant gazes, a young teacher pushed open the door and entered with a roster in his hand.
It was not Sugiki Keitai. Yechen vaguely recognized him as a teacher from another class. His name seemed to be Taniguchi Ichiban.
"Everyone, quiet down."
Taniguchi Ichiban walked up to the podium and clapped his hands, his voice gentle.
"My name is Taniguchi Ichiban. Many of you probably know me already, but that doesn't matter, because I'm not your team leader."
"Hahaha!"
Everyone laughed. This teacher had a funny way of speaking.
Taniguchi Ichiban pressed both hands downward, signaling for silence.
"First, congratulations on passing your graduation exam and becoming true ninja.
"I'm sure you also know that today is the day for team assignments and trials.
"You'll be divided into groups of three, with each group led by an experienced Jonin, and you'll carry out missions together.
"You'll be one another's closest companions and most trusted comrades."
The students began looking around, wondering who would become their teammates.
The higher-ups decided the team assignments. They had no say in who they would be paired with.
So no matter how much they wanted to be on the same team as someone, it was no use. They had to follow the teacher's arrangements.
Seeing that he had set the mood, Taniguchi Ichiban smiled faintly and called for silence again.
"Everyone, I know you're curious about who your teammates will be. I'll announce the roster now. Please stay quiet while I read it."
Everyone immediately quieted down. Team assignments were a serious matter that would affect whether they could get good missions in the future. Only strong teams would receive the village's attention.
They stopped whispering among themselves and focused intently on Taniguchi Ichiban at the podium.
"Team 1..." Taniguchi Ichiban lifted the roster and began reading.
"Ishida Hualong, Masuda Zhuangda, Yamanaka Nako. Team 2: Nishimura Jiulang, Takeda Fei, Maruyama Chun. Team 3..."
As Taniguchi Ichiban read out the names one after another, some students looked pleased and others dejected, but none made a sound.
Soon, Yechen heard Taniguchi Ichiban call his name.
"Team 7: Uchiha Ye Chen, Ito Miyuki, Abe Rō."
Hearing the other two names, Yechen quickly scanned the students in front of him. Two gazes turned toward him at the same time. They were clearly his teammates.
One boy and one girl. Every team seemed to include a girl. He wondered whether it was to balance things out or because, as the saying went, boys and girls working together made the work less tiring.
The boy looked honest and good-natured. Yechen had never seen him before, so he was probably from another class.
The girl had a rather free-spirited air and short red hair. Her clothes suggested she was outgoing.
Yechen had heard of Ito Miyuki. She was well known at school-pretty, among the stronger students, and popular with the boys. Her personality was a little wild, though. He had heard that her father was a Jonin.
Yechen furrowed his brow and checked their information.
(Abe Rō, Genin, combat power 1.5, proficient in Earth Release. An honest, good-natured boy who is easy to fool.) (Ito Miyuki, Genin, combat power 2.8, proficient in Fire Release. A very pretty young girl. If you like her, you can make the first move.)
After reading the information, the corner of Yechen's mouth twitched. This system was getting less serious by the day.
Still, both teammates were decent. One used Earth Release and the other Fire Release-one for defense, one for offense-and neither had low combat power.
It seemed that, because of his identity, the Konoha High Command had not assigned anyone with particularly poor potential to his team.
The other teams varied in strength. Where there were strong teams, there were naturally weak ones too. Yechen did not concern himself with that. He only cared about his own team and hoped these two would not hold him back.
As for camaraderie, he could forget about that. First, they had to survive the battlefield. Having too many bonds was not necessarily a good thing.
By then, Taniguchi Ichiban had finished reading the names.
"Get to know one another now. Your Jonin leaders will come by shortly. Just go with them when they arrive."
With that, Taniguchi Ichiban closed the roster and walked out of the classroom.
The instant he left, the room erupted into a loud uproar.
The students left their seats one after another to find their future teammates.
They would belong to the same class, the same team, which meant they would be one another's most trusted companions. That was what these inexperienced students all believed.
But Yechen knew that although they might think that way at first, some would slowly change their minds once they reached the battlefield and endured the baptism of war.
Their original ideals and sentiments would cease to exist, leaving only self-interest. To satisfy their desires, they could abandon anything. What did comrades matter?
Perhaps that was a little extreme, but such was the cruelty of war.
"Hello, my name is Abe Rō."
The slightly dark-skinned boy standing before him introduced himself rather awkwardly.
Yechen pulled himself out of his thoughts and stood up.
"Uchiha Ye Chen. Nice to meet you. From now on, we'll be comrades on the same team."
"So you're Yechen." A girl in a green combat outfit walked over, a hint of pride in her gaze.
"I'm Ito Miyuki. I know about both of you, especially you, Uchiha Ye Chen. I heard you're the dead last in your class. I hope you won't hold us back."
Miyuki's words were unpleasant, but at least they were direct and revealed her straightforward nature.
"I'll work hard."
"Good. If anyone bullies you from now on, tell them my name. My name carries weight!" Ito Miyuki laughed heartily.
Yechen and Abe Rō exchanged glances and smiled along with her, neither taking it seriously.
After introducing themselves, the three sat together. Miyuki sat between the boys with one leg crossed over the other, acting like their boss. Yechen could only shake his head with a wry smile.
Miyuki was beautiful, but her personality was rather feisty, nothing like her name suggested. Her parents had probably chosen the wrong name.
For the rest of the time, Miyuki talked about her glorious exploits, such as leading others into fights. In short, she wanted to be the boss, and Yechen and Abe Rō were supposed to listen to her from now on.
From their conversation, Yechen learned that Miyuki came from a fairly well-off family. Though she did not belong to a major clan, both her parents were Jonin, leaving her much better off than most children from those clans.
Yechen himself was an example. Though he belonged to the Uchiha Clan, he had little freedom in his life. His parents had sacrificed themselves for the clan and the village, yet he had received no special treatment. In that respect, his circumstances were worse than Miyuki's.
As for Abe Rō, both his parents were Chunin and technical specialists serving on the Barrier Team.
"Yechen, what about your parents..."